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ASA  WHITNEY:  FATHER  OF 
PACIFIC  RAILROADS 


BY 

NELSON  H.  LOOMIS 


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ASA  WHITNEY:    FATHER  OF  PACIFIC  RAIL- 
ROADS 


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ASA  WHITNEY:  FATHER  OF  PACIFIC  RAIL- 
ROADS 

By  Nelson  H.  Loomis 

Columbus  discovered  America  in  his  efforts  to  find  a 
short  route  to  India.     The  same  incentive  spurred  on  to 
■heroic  effort  many  other  intrepid  explorers,  and  when  the 
railroad  became  an  assured  means  of  transportation,  the 
suggestions  for  the  construction  of  a  line  across  the  con- 
00  tinent  were  usually  made  with  the  idea  of  shortening  the 
g?  distance  to  China.     When  in  his  speech  at  St.  Louis  in 
•-•  1844  Senator  Benton  predicted  the  carriage  of  commerce 
L^  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  rail,  within  the  lifetime 
U,  of  full  grown  men  then  living,  it  was  Asiatic  commerce 
of  which  he  spoke.     For  years  it  was  generally  supposed 
that  the  earnings  of  lines  reaching  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
Q  would  accrue  almost  entirely  from  Oriental  traffic,  and  the 
Q  probable  revenues  from  local  traffic  were  considered  as  in- 
4*  cidental  —  by  some  as  almost  negligible.     The  problem 
v>   still  was  how  to  shorten  the  journey  to  China  and  India. 
It  was  this  thought  which  came  to  the  mind  of  Asa  Whit- 
ney while  riding  on  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Rail- 
road in  England  in  1830,  and  the  movement  of  the  train 
forced  him  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  the  railroad  that 
must  shorten  the  distance  to  the  Orient.     Asa  Whitney 
was  a  New  York  merchant  who  had  resided  for  a  number 
of  years  in  China  and  other  eastern  countries,  and  who 
was  familiar  with  commercial  conditions  in  that  part  of 
the  world.     After  the  idea  of  reducing  the  distance  to 
China  by  utilizing  the  railroad  had  found  lodgment  in  his 
mind,  he  again  visited  China  and  made  a  careful  and  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  subject.     When  he  returned  to  the 
United  States,  he  had  become  thoroughly  convinced  that  a 


4  ASA  WHITNEY 

railroad  should  be  constructed  from  the  head  of  naviga- 
tion on  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  that  when 
built  it  would  enable  the  merchants  of  this  country  to  con- 
trol the  trade  of  the  East. 

The  thought  was  ever  present  in  his  mind  and  he 
gave  it  constant  study  and  attention.  The  dream  of 
Columbus  and  of  the  gallant  explorers  who  followed  him 
became  the  controlling  factor  in  Asa  Whitney's  life.  It 
was  a  mighty  conception  but  mightier  still  was  the  resolve 
which  came  with  it,  that  he  himself  would  undertake  the 
great  project  and  by  the  strength  and  power  of  his  own 
initiative  carry  it  forward  to  a  successful  termination. 
The  task  would  seem  Quixotic  to  most  people,  and  im- 
practicable to  others,  but  Asa  Whitney  welcomed  it  as  a 
divine  call  to  duty  and,  turning  neither  to  the  right  nor  to 
the  left,  modestly  and  intelligently  proceeded  to  put  his 
thought  into  action.  He  first  studied  the  proposition  in 
all  its  bearings  and  made  an  investigation  as  to  the  com- 
merce then  existing  between  the  Occident  and  the  Orient 
and  the  extent  to  which  it  might  be  increased  by  the  fur- 
nishing of  more  adequate  transportation  facilities  and  a 
shorter  route.  The  Suez  Canal  was  not  then  constructed 
and  the  ships  which  sailed  between  Europe  and  China 
went  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  distance  from 
London  to  China  along  the  route  ordinarily  followed  by 
sailing  vessels  was  estimated  at  not  less  than  17,000  miles. 
The  estimated  distance  over  Whitney's  route  via  water 
and  rail  was  11,500  miles,  a  saving  of  about  5,500  miles  in 
its  favor.  His  investigations  and  reflections  developed 
additional  reasons  to  support  his  original  conclusion: 
build  the  road  and  the  United  States  would  not  only  con- 
trol the  trade  with  China,  but  with  a  small  naval  force 
would  be  master  of  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  build  the  road  and 
the  country  upon  both  sides  of  it  would  be  filled  with  in- 
dustrious settlers  wherever  it  was  fit  to  live;  build  the 
road  and  the  territory  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean  would  re- 


ASA  WHITNEY  5 

main  in  the  Union ;  fail  to  build  it  and  Oregon  would  be- 
come a  free  State,  controlling  the  trade  of  the  Orient  and 
exercising  dominion  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Whitney  be- 
came imbued  with  the  enthusiasm  and  determination  of  a 
fanatic  and  no  obstacle  seemed  to  be  sufficient  to  swerve 
him  from  his  course. 

His  plan,  roughly  speaking,  was  to  build  a  railroad 
from  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River  and  to  pay  for  it,  as  it  was  being  con- 
structed, by  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  through  which  the 
railroad  was  to  run.  At  that  time  the  lines  from  the  At- 
lantic Coast  were  projected  as  far  west  as  Chicago,  and 
there  was  no  need  of  starting  at  a  point  farther  east.  Fur- 
thermore, there  were  navigable  waters  over  which  traffic 
could  be  carried  all  the  way  from  New  York  to  Chicago, 
and  Lake  Michigan  was  therefore  the  logical  point  for  the 
eastern  terminus  of  his  line.  The  possessions  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean  at  that  time  in- 
cluded the  present  States  of  Oregon  and  Washington 
only;  California  belonged  to  Mexico  and  very  naturally 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  was  selected  as  the  west- 
ern terminus.  Later  on  Seattle  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and 
Prairie  Du  Chien  on  the  Mississippi  River  were  also 
agreed  to  as  satisfactory  termini  for  Whitney's  proposed 
railroad. 

The  estimated  length  of  the  road  was  2,160  miles. 
The  lands  which  were  to  be  sold  to  raise  funds  for  its  con- 
struction extended  for  a  distance  of  thirty  miles  upon 
each  side  of  the  railroad,  and  were  to  be  paid  for  by  Whit- 
ney at  the  rate  of  ten  cents  per  acre.  Title,  however,  was 
not  to  pass  from  the  Government  until  the  actual  con- 
struction of  certain  portions  of  the  railroad  had  been  com- 
pleted. When  ten  miles  were  built,  Whitney  was  to  have 
the  right  to  contract  for  the  sale  of  the  first  strip  of  60 
miles  by  5  miles,  and  patents  were  to  be  issued  in  favor  of 
purchasers  and  turned  over  to  Whitney  for  delivery. 


6  ASA  WHITNEY 

With  the  proceeds  of  these  sales  he  was  to  build  the  next 
section  of  ten  miles  and  so  on  until  the  road  was  com- 
pleted. One-half  of  the  lands  were  to  be  held  in  reserve 
to  pay  for  construction  work  in  territory  where  the  land 
was  of  little  value.  Whitney  anticipated  that  he  would  be 
required  to  spend  more  than  a  million  dollars  before  he 
became  entitled  to  the  proceeds  of  any  of  the  public  lands, 
and  his  expectation  was  that  he  would  find  purchasers  for 
them  among  the  persons  employed  in  the  construction  of 
the  railroad.  It  was  supposed  that  after  working  ap- 
proximately a  year  they  would  have  earned  money  enough 
to  buy  a  farm,  upon  which  they  would  settle  down  and 
make  way  for  other  workmen,  who  in  turn  would  create  a 
market  for  the  supplies  raised  by  the  first  lot  of  em- 
ployees, and  so  on  to  the  end.  One-third  of  the  road  was 
to  be  completed  within  nine  years,  one-third  within  six 
years  thereafter,  and  the  entire  line  was  to  be  in  use  with- 
in twenty-five  years  from  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  Con- 
gress. 

Whitney  calculated  that  the  road  would  cost  $50,000,- 
000,  and  that  $15,000,000  more  would  be  needed  before  it 
could  be  placed  upon  a  paying  basis.  The  title  to  the 
property  was  to  be  vested  in  him,  but  its  operation  was  to 
be  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  Government  and  the 
tolls  were  to  be  regulated  by  Congress,  the  idea  being  that 
the  property  should  earn  no  more  than  would  be  neces- 
sary to  keep  it  up  as  a  going  concern  in  good  physical  con- 
dition. As  an  illustration  of  the  great  change  which  has 
taken  place  in  the  matter  of  personal  incomes,  as  well  as 
in  the  financial  ideals  of  railroad  promoters,  it  is  im- 
portant to  note  that  Mr.  Whitney  was  to  have  a  salary  of 
$4,000  per  year  for  managing  the  property.  The  Govern- 
ment's  interest  in  it  was  to  be  represented  by  a  commis- 
sioner, and  if  Whitney  and  the  commissioner  could  not 
agree,  the  matters  in  dispute  were  to  be  settled  by  arbitra- 
tors selected  by  them.     A  right  of  way  two  hundred  feet 


ASA  WHITNEY  7 

wide  through  the  public  lands  was  to  be  granted  and  the 
property  was  to  be  free  from  taxation  in  the  Territories 
through  which  it  passed,  which  freedom  from  taxation 
was  to  continue  after  the  Territory  became  a  State. 

Whitney  had  no  intention  of  making  the  enterprise  a 
money-making  scheme  for  his  personal  aggrandisement, 
his  hopes  and  expectations  in  that  respect,  as  well  as  gen- 
erally, being  stated  by  him  as  follows : 

''My  desire  and  object  have  been  to  carry  out  and  ac- 
complish this  great  work  for  the  motives,  as  here  and  ev- 
erywhere else  by  me  declared,  to  give  my  country  this 
great  thoroughfare  for  all  nations  without  the  cost  of  one 
dollar ;  to  give  employment  to  and  make  comfortable  and 
happy  millions  who  are  now  destitute  and  starving,  and  to 
bring  all  the  world  together  in  free  intercourse  as  one  na- 
tion. If  it  is  feared  that  the  remuneration  will  be  dispro- 
portionate to  the  extent  and  importance  of  the  work,  then 
I  am  ready  to  relinquish  any  claim  that  I  may  have  for 
compensation,  and  let  the  people  give  me  anything  or  noth- 
ing, as  they  please.  If  they  will  but  allow  me  to  be  their 
instrument  to  accomplish  this  great  work,  it  is  enough ;  I 
ask  no  more.  I  am  willing  to  have  my  acts  scanned,  but  I 
feel  that  I  ought  not  to  be  doubted  when  I  say  that  what  I 
have  done,  and  what  I  propose  to  do,  is  not  for  the  gain  of 
wealth,  or  power,  or  influence,  but  for  the  great  good  which 
I  am  persuaded  it  must  produce  to  our  whole  country.  I 
have  undertaken  this  mighty  work  because  I  know  some- 
one 's  whole  life  must  be  sacrified  to  it. ' ' 

Having  completed  the  details  of  his  plan,  Whitney 
formally  called  it  to  the  attention  of  Congress  through  a 
memorial  presented  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  House  on  the 
28th  of  January,  1845 ;  and  thereafter  he  was  indefatig- 
able in  his  efforts  to  have  it  favorably  acted  upon.  He  in- 
terviewed Congressmen  and  persons  of  influence.  He  ex- 
plained his  scheme  to  committees  of  the  Senate  and  House, 
and  published  articles  in  regard  to  it  in  newspapers  and 


Bancroft 

LIBRARY 


8  ASA  WHITNEY 

magazines.  He  finally  concluded  that  the  way  to  move 
Congress  was  to  build  up  a  strong  public  sentiment  in  fa- 
vor of  his  plan.  Accordingly  he  traveled  all  over  the 
country  addressing  State  legislatures  and  public  assemb- 
lages. He  met  legislative  bodies  in  the  States  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Michigan, 
Maryland,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  Indiana,  and  secured 
the  passage  of  resolutions  favorable  to  his  plan  in  all  of 
those  States.  He  also  secured  favorable  action  from 
large  pubhc  meetings  in  the  cities  of  Cincinnati,  Louis- 
ville, Terre  Haute,  Indianapolis,  Dayton,  Wheeling,  and 
Philadelphia.  He  faced  opposition  and  ridicule,  and  at 
times  riotous  assemblages.  Strange  ideas  were  enter- 
tained by  many  people  as  to  the  wisdom  and  practicability 
of  a  railroad  across  the  continent,  and  a  committee  of  the 
House,  having  his  plan  under  consideration,  reported 
that  **To  build  a  road  from  some  place  on  Lake  Mich- 
igan across  three  thousand  miles  of  uninhabited  country, 
over  mountains  the  lowest  pass  of  which  was  seventy-five 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  was  a  scheme  so  gigantic  as  to 
be  impracticable.  Such  a  road,  especially  one  from  Lake 
Michigan,  could  be  used  but  a  part  of  each  year.  How 
hard  it  was  to  clear  away  snow  from  the  tracks  of  rail- 
roads near  Washington  was  well  known  to  everybody.  To 
keep  open  a  road  across  plains  as  high  as  the  highest  peak 
of  the  AUeghanies  crossed  by  the  Cumberland  road  would 
be  all  but  impossible." 

But  Whitney  possessed  a  great  fund  of  information 
upon  the  subject,  was  simple  and  direct  in  his  style,  and 
on  the  whole  was  able  to  convince  people,  not  only  as  to 
the  sincerity  of  his  aims,  but  of  the  wisdom  and  practica- 
bility of  his  enterprise ;  and  the  fact  that  he  was  wealthy 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  bear  the  great  expense  incident 
to  his  widespread  agitation  in  favor  of  it. 

On  July  31,  1846,  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  in 


ASA  WHITNEY  9 

the  Senate  reported  a  bill  in  favor  of  Whitney's  project. 
Favorable  reports  were  made  by  committees  of  the  House 
and  Senate  in  1848.  In  the  same  year  a  motion  for  the 
consideration  of  the  bill  in  the  Senate  was  lost  by  a  vote 
of  27  to  21. 

The  climax  of  Whitney's  agitation  was  reached  in  the 
year  1849,  when  he  published  a  book  giving  the  facts  and 
arguments  in  favor  of  a  transcontinental  railroad,  which 
he  had  carefully  gathered  together  during  many  years  of 
laborious  effort.  It  was  entitled  Project  for  a  Railroad 
to  the  Pacific.  In  that  year  committees  of  both  houses  of 
Congress  again  made  reports  favorable  to  his  enterprise, 
but  they  were  not  approved  by  Congress  itself. 

A  controversy  had  arisen  in  the  meantime  a^  to  the 
eastern  terminus  of  the  road.  California  had  become  a 
part  of  the  public  domain  in  1848,  and  San  Francisco  was 
at  once  recognized  on  all  sides  as  the  proper  place  for  its 
western  terminus.  But  with  California  reaching  as  far 
south  as  any  of  the  Southern  States,  eastern  termini  in 
the  southern  portion  of  the  country  became  as  feasible  as 
termini  farther  north,  and  the  strife  became  keen  as  to  the 
States  through  which  the  new  transcontinental  line  was  to 
run.  In  1^3  Congress  made  provision  for  the  survey  of 
five  different  routes  across  the  great  plains  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  the  results  of  which  were  afterwards  embodied  in 
thirteen  huge  volumes  giving  valuable  detailed  informa- 
tion as  to  the  different  routes  over  which  it  would  be  prac- 
ticable to  build  and  operate  railroads  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

In  1852  the  Senate  Committee  on  Post  Offices  and 
Post  Eoads  reported  a  bill  setting  apart  a  portion  of  the 
public  lands  to  enable  Whitney  to  build  his  road  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  but  limiting  the  eastern  and  western  ter- 
mini to  Memphis  and  San  Francisco  and  points  south 
thereof,  and  reaching  California  by  way  of  the  Rio  Del 
Norte.  The  introduction  of  this  bill  marked  the  end  of 
Whitney's  project  and  the  agitation  in  favor  of  it.    But 


10  ASA  WHITNEY 

the  idea  had  taken  possession  of  the  public  mind  and  the 
discussions  in  favor  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
would  not  stop  until  the  enterprise  was  an  accomplished 
fact.  Planks  in  favor  of  such  a  road  were  embodied  in 
the  platforms  of  both  great  political  parties  in  1860,  and 
when  the  Southern  States  seceded  in  1861,  thus  removing 
from  consideration  all  territory  in  which  the  War  was  go- 
ing on,  and  it  became  evident  that  the  construction  of  a 
transcontinental  railroad  was  necessary  as  a  war  meas- 
ure, Congress  passed  an  Act  of  July  1, 1862,  entitled  "An 
Act  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  a  railroad  and  telegraph 
line  from  the  Missouri  Eiver  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  to 
secure  to  the  Government  the  use  of  the  same  for  postal, 
military  and  other  purposes",  under  which  the  Union 
Pacific  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads  were  built. 

The  failure  of  Mr.  Whitney's  project  may  be  ascribed 
chiefly  to  the  opinion  which  prevailed  that  the  undertak- 
ing was  too  stupendous  to  entrust  to  a  single  person.  But 
even  though  this  objection  had  been  overcome,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  sectional  differences  as  to  the  route  of  the 
proposed  road  would  have  proved  an  insuperable  obstacle 
to  Whitney's  plan,  just  as  it  did  to  all  other  plans  for  a 
transcontinental  line  until  the  outbreak  of  the  War  seemed 
to  make  its  construction  a  military  necessity. 

But  it  is  erroneous  to  suppose  that  the  failure  to 
build  the  road  under  Whitney's  plan  deprived  the  country 
of  the  benefit  of  his  years  of  investigation  and  active 
work.  The  information  which  he  gathered  and  the  argu- 
ments which  he  advanced  were  of  immense  value  when  the 
time  arrived  for  the  actual  building  of  the  road.  The  im- 
portance of  such  a  road  to  the  entire  nation  was  brought 
home  to  all  the  people  through  his  marvelous  exertions, 
and  the  building  of  a  transcontinental  railroad,  together 
with  the  great  development  of  the  West  which  accom- 
panied it,  might  have  been  delayed  many  years  had  it  not 
been  for  his  efforts.    It  is  the  Asa  Whitneys  of  the  world 


ASA  WHITNEY  11 

who  challenge  public  attention  and  force  the  execution  of 
national  enterprises  as  well  as  the  adoption  of  great  re- 
forms. His  work  is  thus  summarized  in  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Koads  and  Canals  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  1850 : 

**Mr.  Whitney  has  been  unremittingly  engaged  at  his 
own  expense  since  1841,  in  collecting  information  on  this 
subject,  as  well  in  Asia  as  in  our  own  country ;  and  we  are 
indebted  to  him  for  the  organization  of  the  project,  for  the 
maturity  of  the  first  plan,  for  the  large  amount  of  prac- 
tical information  that  is  brought  to  bear  on  the  subject, 
and  for  awakening  public  attention  to  its  importance. ' ' 

Under  the  Act  of  July  1, 1862,  it  was  left  to  the  Presi- 
dent to  fix  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  new  railroad  across 
the  continent,  and  he  did  so  on  the  17th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1863,  by  locating  it  upon  the  western  boundary  of 
Iowa  opposite  the  city  of  Omaha. 

As  soon  as  possible,  after  the  residents  of  Omaha 
heard  of  the  action  of  President  Lincoln,  and  on  De- 
cember 3,  1863,  they  gathered  together  to  celebrate  the 
event  and  to  break  ground  for  the  great  enterprise.  The 
spot  selected  was  near  the  Ferry  landing  not  far  above 
the  point  where  the  Union  Pacific  Shops  are  now  located. 
Rev.  T.  B.  Lemon  of  the  Methodist  Church  asked  the  di- 
vine blessing  upon  the  work  that  was  about  to  be  started. 
The  first  earth  was  then  removed  by  Governor  Saunders, 
assisted  by  Mayor  Kennedy.  Speeches  were  made  by  Mr. 
A.  J.  Poppleton  (for  many  years  the  distinguished  Gen- 
eral Solicitor  of  the  Union  Pacific),  and  others.  George 
Francis  Train  also  delivered  one  of  his  characteristic 
talks  on  this  occasion. 

The  work  of  construction  lagged  for  a  while,  but  in 
1864  Congress  amended  the  Act  of  1862,  so  that  it  was 
possible  to  secure  the  private  capital  needed  to  construct 
the  road,  and  the  actual  building  of  it  proceeded  in  earn- 
est.    In  spite  of  serious  obstacles  the  work  was  pushed 


12  ASA  WHITNEY 

forward  with  increased  vigor  each  year,  and  on  the  10th 
day  of  May,  1869,  the  Union  Pacific,  which  had  been  con- 
structed from  Omaha  west,  and  the  Central  Pacific,  which 
had  been  built  from  San  Francisco  east,  were  united  at 
Promontory  in  the  Territory  of  Utah.  Thus  was  accom- 
plished the  enterprise  which  had  been  dreamed  about  and 
talked  about  for  so  many  years ;  and  it  seems  proper,  at 
this  gathering  of  persons  interested  in  historical  research, 
held  in  the  city  where  the  great  railroad  for  which  he  la- 
bored so  long  starts  on  its  course  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
that  we  should  call  to  mind  the  disinterested  work  of  that 
modest,  unselfish,  strong-hearted  and  public  spirited  man 
—  Asa  Whitney,  Father  of  the  Pacific  Railroads. 


